My Thoughts Right Now

My thoughts right now are racing. They are racing around in my head looking for solutions to the problems that plague me. My problems will give rise to solutions. The solutions will be tweaked to more questions, problems, and then solutions.

What are my problems right now?

1.  I have some students who need much help for the Reading test.
2.  I have students who need help in 2 different languages.
3.  I have students who need additional help in Math.
4.  I have 14 teaching days to figure this out.

Here are my questions:

1. How can I maneuver things so that I can meet the needs of all the students in 14 teaching days?
2. How can I split my day up so that I can devote the time when there is an author visit and field day in this time frame?
3. How can I plan and implement my work stations so that the reviewed items are meaningful for my students?

My possible solutions:

1. I have made up work stations where students will be responding to what they are reading and will be able to use the analysis pyramid.
2. I need to make find more text where I can create questions that they will have to answer by going back and looking for text evidence. I have several poems copied in English and Spanish. I have expository text as well. I need more biographies and plays to use in both languages.
3. I plan on cutting up the 2013-2015 STAAR test to make into a document that I will use in small group. I will use it to show the students how to find the textual evidence and reason through the questions and answers. The problems that my students are having is not completely understanding the genre of the test and how to lift the textual evidence to help them find the correct answer. I will do this all in small group. I look forward to the results. The past two weeks I had been working with my students with a review of genre and how to use the preview to gain information for the text and to engage completely. I also had them annotate to hold their thinking. Engagement and transaction equal greater understanding. I plan on seeing 2-3 groups a day.
4. The Math groups have been moved around, based on current students observations and data. I will see 4 groups a day. I also have changed out my work stations. I also have given out more homework to the students.

This is my plan right now. I know that the groups will remain flexible based on observations, classwork, and any checkpoints that I administer. I feel very confident with this course of action. I have seen lots of improvement in both Math and Reading from my students. They are showing their thinking by showing their work more each day. They are seeing more connections between the results and deeper learning that they are experiencing by doing so. In addition to that, I also have sought divine intervention. I need all the help that I can get. Staying calm and reflective will go a long way. I also have a great teammates that I can go to bounce ideas and to receive feedback. That is important at this trying time.  Vamos a ver.